FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Can't change flight via site/app - UA telling me they can't fix it
Old Jan 11, 2022 | 2:19 pm
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emcampbe
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Originally Posted by saltydog75
Hello all,

My apologies if this belongs in an existing thread. I had booked an IAD -> SMF flight in August leaving IAD a little after noon and with a short layover in DEN. A few weeks ago, UA cancelled that first leg and re-booked me on an earlier fight, meaning I now have a 3.5 hr layover in DEN. Naturally, I went to "change flight", both in the app and on the site, to see what options I might have. I receive an error - see message below. In the past, I've called customer service and they've told me they "need to reissue the eTicket" so that I can request a change. I tried the chat interface yesterday and explained my situation. I was only offered a change via the CS rep; they wouldn't fix the error so I could change myself. I repeated multiple times "I just want this error fixed" and he kept suggesting specific flights. I then called via phone today and was told directly UA cannot fix this error. I was offered the option for the CS agent to change it for me, but was told "we cannot make a change that will allow you to change the flight yourself" (no reason given). This is puzzling, especially since in my experience, when this happens, I also cannot check in until the problem's fixed.

Does anyone have any guidance to share? I suppose maybe they're intentionally limiting self-change given the reductions in flights, reasoning that agents can make sure folks change to flights that are least likely to be cancelled. OTOH, I wonder if given the pandemic experience, they have some new agents that aren't aware of this problem. I would just like to 1) regain the ability to request a flight change and 2) make sure I can actually check in,

Thank you for any info!


Error message when I try to change my flight on the web site
sorry, definitely not ideal. Sometimes, stuff happens when flight changes hit an itinerary and make it unchangeable online. Even pre-pandemic. While less convenient - I get it, what’s the issue with having an agent make the change - just curious?

how much are the flights you want compared to what you paid already? If there is no fare difference, and with no change fees, one option may be to just cancel what you have, then rebook, while using the FFC from current itinerary to pay (enter this as a form of payment at the end, rather than trying to rebook from within the PNR, which you probably can’t do on your own anyway). Even if it needs to be canceled by an agent, a new PNR likely won’t have whatever issue is affecting the current PNR.
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